Møre og Romsdal
round 0}}00}} || , || ) / * 100 round 3}}% || style="font-size: 75%"|Statistics Norway - Population per 1 April 2010 and population changes during 1st quarter of 2010. Møre og Romsdal | populationpercent = 5.24 | populationdensity = auto | populationincrease = 2.0 | gdp_as_of = 2001 | gdprank = 6 | gdppercent = 3.89 | gdpcapita = 243,412 | incomecapita = 139,200 | language = Nynorskhttp://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/more_og_romsdal/1.1477516 | demonym = Møringer or Romsdalinger | coatofarms = Møre og Romsdal_våpen.svg | munwebpage = www.mrfylke.no }} }} is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city. The name The name Møre og Romsdal was created in 1936. The first element refers to the districts of Nordmøre and Sunnmøre, and the last element refers to Romsdal. Until 1919, the county was called "Romsdal amt", and from 1919-1935 "Møre fylke". For the meanings of the names see Diocese of Møre and Romsdal. Coat-of-arms The coat-of-arms is from 1978. It shows three Viking ships (where the masts and the yards create three crosses). The number of three represents the three districts of the county: Sunnmøre, Romsdal and Nordmøre. History The history of this county is rather chaotic: The county (with its current borders) was established in 1671 - but after just four years (in 1675) it was divided into two amts/counties: Romsdal with Nordmøre and Sunnmøre with Nordfjord. The latter was merged with Bergenhus Amt in 1680. The three regions of Romsdal, Sunnmøre and Nordmøre were again merged into one amt/county in 1689 - but this was split and divided between Trondhjems Amt (which got Romsdal and Nordmøre) and Bergenhus Amt (which got Sunnmøre) in 1701. The three regions of Romsdal, Sunnmøre and Nordmøre were again merged into one county in 1704. The borders of the county have not been changed since 1704 - with the exception that the annex Vinje of Hemne parish was transferred from Romsdal Amt to Søndre Trondhjems amt in 1838. (According to the law of Formannskapsdistrikt a parish could no longer be divided between two counties.) Geography Traditionally, the county has been divided into three districts. From north to south, these are Nordmøre, Romsdal and Sunnmøre. Although the districts do not have separate governments and despite modern road, sea and air connections throughout the county, the three districts still have their own identities in many ways. Historically speaking, connections have been stronger between Nordmøre and Sør-Trøndelag to the north, Romsdal and Oppland to the east, and Sunnmøre and Sogn og Fjordane to the south, than internally. Differences in dialects between the three districts bear clear evidence of this. Due to geographical features, the county has many populated islands and is intersected by several deep fjords. Due to its difficult terrain, Møre og Romsdal has been very dependent on boat traffic, and its main car ferry company, MRF, has existed since 1921. Settlements Møre og Romsdal has six settlements with city status. The largest three were cities before 1993 when municipalities were allowed to grant city status which led to an increase in the number of cities. The county contains multiple other urban settlements (as defined by Statistics Norway) without city status, every municipality except for Halsa and Smøla containing at least one. As of 1 January 2009, 166,374 people (66.8 percent of the population) lived in an urban settlement. The population density is highest near the coast, with all of the county's cities located on saltwater. The largest city in the county is Ålesund, with a population of 42,317 in the municipality and 46,471 in the agglomeration which it forms together with parts of Sula. Infrastructure Møre og Romsdal is served by nine airports, of which only the airports located near the four largest centres have regular domestic flights. The largest airport in the county is Ålesund Airport, Vigra, which offers the only scheduled international routes from any airport in Møre og Romsdal. Ålesund Airport had 732,614 passengers in 2006. Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget had 364,350 passengers in 2007, while Molde Airport, Årø had 401,292, down from 444,677 in 2006. Ørsta-Volda airport had 49,842 passengers in 2006. None of the airports in Møre og Romsdal offer regular flights to each other.Avinor.no In 2007, Møre og Romsdal had 6339 kilometres of public roads, an increase of 5 km since the previous year, as well as 4258 kilometres of private roads, 7 km more than in 2006. Municipalities Møre og Romsdal has a total of 36 municipalities: Ålesund Aukra Aure Averøy Eide Fræna (Frei -merged with Kristiansund 1 January 2008) Giske Gjemnes Halsa Haram Hareid Herøy Kristiansund Midsund Molde Nesset Norddal Ørskog Ørsta Rauma Rindal Sande Sandøy Skodje Smøla Stordal Stranda Sula Sunndal Surnadal Sykkylven Tingvoll (Tustna - merged with Aure 1 January 2006) Ulstein Vanylven Vestnes Volda References External links * *Møre og Romsdal county Category:Counties of Norway Category:Møre og Romsdal